Papa Can You Hear Me
by geminisonic
Summary: Sadie Stark Story: Sadie's back with her father from New York and she's finally adjusting to real life again, until she begins having nightmares. Strange things begin to happen to her and Sadie's scared of what she'll discover as the haunting on her gets worse. Can Ironman help her? Horror/Suspense thriller, rated T for violence, language, and some sex. refs.
1. Chapter 1

Hey guys, so I am sorry to say I was not really feeling the teenage Sadie story to be honest. I guess I was just not quite sure how to go with it since I haven't seen Iron Man 3 obviously, so I have that on hold until I can figure out what to do with it.

On another note, I came up with this idea on a whim while taking a 30 minute power nap. I've been watching a lot of scary movies (paranormal horror to be specific) and I absolutely love that genre of movie. So because I just really have a desire to write some horror, I decided to make a story line where Sadie is being haunted by something very sinister and only she can see it (being that she's died twice under the knife before).

I thought it would be cool to try out and include Tony and Pepper of course. There is some humor but I love the suspense aspect of horror so I'm doing a lot with that.

I know people love little Sadie so much and I figured I'd try something a little different to work on and let you guys check it out and see how it goes.

Oh and as far as time period, I wanted to do this around the time Sadie, Tony and Pepper return from New York after the Avengers, so she's not in school yet.

But enough rambling…

**Papa Can You Hear Me?**

Sadie woke up gasping for air again. It had been a while since she'd had any problems breathing, but for some odd reason each night seemed to get more claustrophobic to her. She sighed and sat up finally and looked over to see Kala snoring away. She rubbed her eyes and got up to use the bathroom. She had to be thankful that at least her body was kind enough not to make her wet the bed. That would be perfect! Just another reason for her dad to go into super protective mode. Shoot, he'd probably just get her diapers to make her feel better.

She rolled her eyes and blamed her mood on the nightmare. She looked at her clock and groaned. As if on schedule, 3:35 flashed on the screen. She seemed to always wake up on or around this time in the past few weeks. She didn't understand why, but was more annoyed than curious.

Once she'd done her business, she walked out and jumped as Kala suddenly growled and barked at something by the window of her room.

She looked over but didn't really see anything at first. She wondered if Kala sensed an animal of some kind outside the window.

"Kala, hush, there's nothing there." Sadie groaned, deciding to just go to bed.

Kala didn't let up. Sadie thought of ignoring her but Kala's tone suddenly grew more…vicious.

Sadie sat up and looked at her dog, whose eyes reflected a hint of aggression and fear. Her growls were getting higher and she was actually backing up a little.

Sadie's hair stood on end suddenly. The air got cold. She suddenly felt…unsafe. She sensed more than saw what was in the room, but she was inclined to actually see what was there. She took a breath, shaking and turned her head towards the window, her eyes widening.

This time she saw it.

…

Tony shot up as he heard Sadie screaming. Pepper sat up and followed his lead as he ran downstairs to Sadie.

She just kept screaming.

He knew she would have nightmares off and on but this wasn't like her to keep screaming. And she wasn't just screaming like she normally would if she were hurt or upset. No, she was terrified.

"Sadie!" he called finally reaching her room.

He tried the doorknob and it wouldn't open.

"What the hell?!" he gasped, trying again.

"Sadie! Open the door! NOW!" he yelled.

She kept screaming.

Pepper finally came to him, "Tony, open her door!" she cried.

"Jarvis!" Tony tried.

"Sir I'm afraid her door is jammed shut."

Tony couldn't believe it, "Is somebody in her room?" he yelled.

"No sir, there is no one there." Jarvis answered.

_Then why was she screaming like that?_ He thought.

"Sadie!" Pepper called, banging on the door, "Open the door, sweetie, just try!"

"All lights on Jarvis!" Tony tried.

And sure enough, as soon as the whole house lit up, the screaming stopped.

Tony stared at Pepper with confusion. It was deathly still and quiet.

"Sadie?" Tony called again.

_**CRASH!**_

Pepper shrieked and Tony actually yelped. He looked around trying to find out where the crash occurred, but didn't see anything.

Just then Jarvis's alarm system went off, "Sir, a window in Miss Stark's room has shattered."

"Oh my God!" Pepper cried.

"Damnit! SADIE!" Tony yelled, banging on the door, getting angry, "Jarvis, shut up!"

As soon as it went deathly still again, her door finally opened.

He slowly opened the door to find Sadie's room covered from wall to floor in glass. He looked and saw the bathroom was covered in broken shower glass and mirrors.

"What the hell?" he repeated under his breath.

"Sadie!" Pepper called, carefully avoiding stepping on glass as she ran to get Sadie, who was still on the bed, staring at the broken window.

Tony couldn't see her face, but quickly looked down and noticed a furry mass on the floor. It was whining.

"Oh shit." He muttered. Kala had been hit with tons of glass.

He looked up and repeated the expletive louder as he got a look at Sadie who was bleeding from some of the glass hitting her exposed body and face.

Pepper got Sadie out and Tony quickly bent down to check on Kala. She was okay, but definitely needed a vet.

He quickly picked up the giant dog and grunted as he ran with Pepper to the car. One needed a hospital, the other a vet.

…..

Sadie was quiet and the only time she spoke was to ask about Kala. They decided to drop Kala off first because she had the most impacted hit. And also because Sadie demanded it.

The vet took her in right away and promised to be in touch within the evening.

Once they got to the hospital, Dr. Hill was able to come by and quickly take care of Sadie. Tony was pleased to know that within thirty minutes Sadie could come home with only minor cuts and scratches. He was also pleased to hear his phone ring as he drove home and the vet called to say that Kala was fine but they would keep her for a couple of days to make sure she recovered fully.

Sadie seemed fine but was definitely shaken.

He was relieved to finally pull in and get back to bed. Of course Sadie was going to end up on the couch or in his room. He sighed not envying Pepper in the remodeling of her room once again.

He carried her up and Pepper rubbed her eyes, following him.

Tony put Sadie on the couch and thought, "What the hell," as he sat next to her and closed his eyes.

Pepper joined them with a blanket and Tony was glad for a little peace, but in his mind he couldn't erase the sound of his daughter screaming and the sight of her bloody face or Kala bloody on the ground. It sent shivers up his spine and he really wanted to know what really happened in her room.

He closed his eyes and tried to rest, but something just didn't feel right. He could hear Sadie snoring softly and he wondered what she saw that terrified her so much. He prayed it was something he or Iron Man could fix.

…

Okay guys, that's just chapter one so obviously more to come, but I had so much fun writing the beginning of this and I'm going to really try and up the game with more detailed descriptions of things and actually writing to horror music and in the dark so you guys can also get the real effect.

See you soon! And please, please, please tell me what you think!


	2. Chapter 2

_**I personally enjoy reading without music, but sometimes a little creepy music adds to it. So, I hate to do this to you guys, but if you want music to listen to as you read, I recommend going to YouTube and finding the music from Sinister, The Ring, and Insidious. Yeah, I know lol. I like the Sinister one's because of how subtle yet very eerie they are and the feeling of someone behind you is just a heart pacer. Insidious has some jumpy moments with the creepy instruments that are good. The Ring has the scary video sound effects and a good score. So if you find a good soundtrack piece that you want to share, please let us know! Good luck!**_

…

"_OUCH!" Sadie thought as she covered her ears. The ringing sound was getting worse. She tried closing her eyes and shaking her head to make it stop but it wouldn't. She groaned it was so painful. And she could swear it was getting louder and louder and louder…and louder. _

"_I wanna wake up!" she thought wishing the pain away. _

_She was about to just scream but it stopped as soon as it started. _

"_Maybe the dreams over." She thought and finally took her hands from her ears and squinted her eyes open. _

_The light was bright and she was feeling a sense of relief of morning coming and light waking her up. She blinked and finally everything came into focus._

_But she wasn't at home. At least…it didn't look like her home. _

_She felt a sense of foreboding as she looked around what looked to be a war zone. There was ash falling from the gray, patched ceiling. The walls were dark and bare; the posters that once were tacked there were ripped off and burned, making imprints on the already dark wall. She looked around and could see the desks overturned and broken, chairs scattering the room. The blackboard was blank and seemed almost untouched. _

_She looked around and panted. How did she get here? Where was she? Where was her dad? What was going on? _

_She could see a clock on the wall. It looked busted, but she was stunned to see it working. It seemed odd for something like that to be working in such a broken, dilapidated room. She looked closer at the clock and saw that it read 3:30. _

_She took a cautious step forward on the cold, ashen floor, littered with paper and dirt. She tried to be quiet but with each crunch in her step, she flinched. _

_She got no more than 2 steps in and heard it; that heavy sound that made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. That sound that made it seem alive but not quite. She shook. She knew it was behind her, floating or stalking towards her. She didn't know how it moved; only that it could and it was getting closer to her. _

_She stood rooted and wanted to scream. She made a choking, gasping sound. Felt it get closer…and closer…and closer…_

"Sade's? Hey, snap out of it!"

Sadie blinked and jumped. Her dad sat in a chair in front of her, staring at her. Sadie blinked again, not sure if this was a dream or something else.

She looked around and noticed she was in her dad's work shop. Only it was day time.

"Yo! You okay?" he asked her.

"Huh?" she asked, trying to remember what had happened.

"I asked if that loud noise bothered you. Then you kind of…" he started, "You zoned or something."

Sadie looked up at the computers and suddenly remembered what she was doing down there. Her dad had asked for her help with something and then a sound went off. After that…

She blinked and shook her head, as though trying to make sense of everything.

"Hey, are you okay?" he asked again.

"Yeah." She said, breathing a sigh of relief, "Let's get back to that problem on the computer." She said, hoping he'd ignore the shakiness in her voice.

He nodded, deciding not to press any further. He rolled back into place and Sadie walked over, just shrugging the strange classroom out of her mind. He sat her in his lap and she began to look at the screen, but then felt her stomach drop as something caught her eye.

The clock on the screen read 3:35.

….

To be honest, neither Tony nor Pepper had really had the time to explore Sadie's room that day. Neither had even asked her about what had happened. As curious as Tony was, Pepper had insisted they wait a day to let her digest everything and heal. Then she could tell them what had occurred.

Besides, Pepper had to do a ton of work at Stark Industries for him and he had to fix the glitches in his system. He was also debating on putting cameras in every room now and not just the main areas of the house. He hated exposing everyone like that but he couldn't shake what had happened in Sadie's room.

It was bed time and Pepper was able to get some of Sadie's things out of the room quickly and get her set up in his room.

Pepper would not be able to stay the night unfortunately. Because of all the remodeling and the chaos in New York, Pepper was still working on moving in and she still had work to do with selling her old place, so for now, she was in and out a lot at Tony's.

Luckily she was able to read a story to Sadie before bed and get her comfortable before leaving herself.

Tony came upstairs as Pepper hummed a lullaby to Sadie, who was smiling as she drifted to sleep. Pepper gently rubbed her head, avoiding any cuts, as she hummed. She looked up and smiled at Tony and quickly motioned for him to stay quiet.

Tony was happy to just lean on the door frame and watch them.

"Goodnight Sadie." Pepper whispered as she kissed Sadie's forehead one last time, then turned off the lamp and walked out quietly.

Tony followed her out.

They got to the bottom of the stairs and he helped Pepper get her things, "Will I see you tomorrow? Or any of your packed up items?" he chuckled.

She smiled, "Hopefully, maybe I'll actually get something done tonight." She sighed.

"Don't stress out, okay." He told her.

"Do you think she'll be okay?" Pepper asked, finally voicing concern about the night before.

Tony nodded, "I bet it was some weird sound or some stupid animal crashing in. I wouldn't worry, it's probably nothing."

Pepper nodded and finally walked to the door, "Call me, okay? And don't harangue her about last night, let her rest!"

"Relax Miss Potts!" he chuckled, "I'll be good." He smiled and kissed her warmly before she left.

He was able to watch her drive off then decided to head to bed himself, he just had to clean a few things.

He heard a strange sound suddenly as he was going towards the kitchen. He looked up and around, not quite sure what it was.

It sounded like a thumping noise.

He shrugged it off, but then heard it again, only louder.

He walked around the kitchen and tried following the sound. He stopped at Sadie's door and could hear it as plain as day.

Tony put his hand on the knob and the thumping sound got louder, almost as if someone was tapping the wall on the other side.

He turned the knob and opened the door.

The room was dark and he didn't see anything out of the ordinary, save for the tarp on the window and glass everywhere.

He walked in cautiously, careful of the glass on the ground. He looked around and didn't hear anything. All he felt and heard was the wind.

THUMP!

He jumped, ""Lights." He gasped.

The lights came on and he breathed a sigh of relief having found the culprit.

Sadie's hanging decoration of some wooden butterflies were thumping against the wall from the wind blowing through a loose corner in the tarp.

He chuckled to himself. He was Ironman for Christ's sake!

He quickly fixed the tarp and took the butterflies down, placing them on the dresser.

He sighed and looked around the room.

The walls and carpet had scratches and cuts from all the glass. Even some of Sadie's things had gotten broken. He felt bad, but knew he could replace them.

He'd been debating on redoing the color of her room. The peach was annoying and he wanted Sadie's room to be pink just for her. It was her favorite color after all.

He smiled as he kicked some glass aside and thought about how he could make her room really special when something caught his eye above Sadie's bed.

At first he could have sworn it was a scratch mark from all the glass but this one seemed odd. A hanging picture of him and Sadie was kind of in the way so he walked over to the wall and moved it aside, putting it on the bed.

His eyes widened. He didn't know how it was even possible but he could have sworn he saw scratch marks that looked like fingernails dragging on the wall. There were 8 distinct matching scratches in a line horizontally on the wall. It actually gave him goose bumps.

Sadie could not have done that, and even if she had, she would have had to have been picked up and carried sideways...by someone very tall.

The image was horrifying to him. _Somebody grabbing Sadie and then carrying her away and her, screaming and trying to get away, digging her nails into the wall for dear life…_

"Daddy?"

He jumped and turned around.

"Sade's…" he gasped, catching his breath, "You scared me kiddo." He laughed, "What are you doing up?"

She looked down, scratching some of her cuts, but quickly looked back up, "What are you doing?" she asked.

"Nothing." He said quickly, covering up the scratches with the picture again, "I was um…thinking about painting your room pink." He said, hoping she wouldn't notice how pale he'd gotten.

She seemed to brighten at that and he could feel color coming back to his face as he smiled back.

"Really? Can we?" she asked excitedly.

He nodded and finally left the daunting room, turning off the lights as he went to scoop her up.

"You bet, and maybe we'll have a different colored carpet too, or do you like the white?" he asked as he closed the door.

As he got farther from her room, he seemed to feel a lot better. And even as he prepared for bed and actually joined Sadie to go to sleep, he could tell he was less spooked.

She lay down next to him and he smiled at her in the dark; both their chest pieces lighting up the other's faces. He had to look past all the nasty cuts on her face. He knew they'd heal over time but it was a struggle not to feel very responsible for what had happened to her.

"Daddy?" she whispered, interrupting his thoughts.

"Hmm?" he mumbled.

"Do you get nightmares?" she asked.

"Yep. Believe it or not, even Ironman has nightmares." He smiled.

"Do you get scared?" she asked, scratching her cuts again.

He reached out to stop her from opening any wounds, "Don't scratch them Sade's, and yeah…I get scared all the time." He admitted.

"What are you afraid of?" she asked, trying to keep from itching.

He thought about that for a minute, "Well for starters, clowns…"

She giggled, but he got serious for her, "No, what really scares me is losing you and Pepper."

He reached out and gently brushed the hair from her eyes, "You both are very important to me and I don't know what I'd do if I lost you."

Sadie smiled knowingly at him, "I don't want to lose you either."

He smiled, "You haven't yet." He chuckled.

"What about the boogeyman?" she suddenly asked.

"Boogeyman?" he laughed.

She looked so serious that he actually stopped laughing, but he did keep his smile, "Sade's, that's just a scary story people tell kids to go to bed or something. It's not even real."

"But what if he was…"

"No, Sadie. Believe me, no such thing. We are scientist's you know." He hoped that would be the end of it. He knew Sadie was smart, but he understood she was still a kid and there were just some things kids had to learn the hard way…without science, "Trust me Sade's. No boogeyman. Hate to break it to ya, but you've been had."

She sighed, "If he was…real…do you think you could protect us from him?"

Tony sighed as well and figured this was something she'd have to figure out over time, not overnight, so just to humor her, he nodded, "Absolutely, nothing is taking you from me."

"A few people have already…" she said darkly.

He poked her belly, "Hey! I got you back!" he laughed.

She grinned, "So you can keep me safe from the boogeyman…but in case he does get me…you'll save me…right?"

"Always." He promised.

She seemed satisfied with that.

"Enough campfire stories, let's get some shut eyes." He said, clutching her closer to him. She snuggled into him; their chest pieces humming to help her drift back to sleep with her dad.


	3. Chapter 3

Pepper and Tony sat Sadie down at the table the next day. They gave each other a quick look and Pepper started with her questions, "Sadie, can you tell us what happened the other night in your room?"

Sadie looked tired and Tony could see the bags under her eyes and the stress of the other night catching up to her. He wondered what had happened to make her so upset.

She seemed to shrink before their eyes. She looked quickly at both of them and then looked down at her hands, curling together on her lap.

"Sadie, you aren't in trouble." Pepper reassured her, "You can tell us."

Sadie was silent.

Then Tony tried, "Sade's, do you know what happened?"

She nodded, still staring at her hands.

"Okay…" he said, "Can you tell us what did happen?"

"You won't believe me." She whispered so quietly they barely heard her.

"Why wouldn't we believe you?" Pepper asked.

"Did you see what happened?" Tony asked as well.

Sadie finally looked up, closing her eyes and taking a breath. She opened her eyes and Tony could see how she struggled to keep the tears from releasing. Tony could tell that this was no joke what she was about to tell them.

"There was something in my room." She said.

Pepper blanched, "What?"

"Sadie, Jarvis said there was no one in there when I asked him." Tony said, "You sure it wasn't outside the window?"

Sadie shook her head, "No. It was in the room. I could hear it…Kala…Kala saw it before I did," Sadie said, starting to sob, "I looked by the window…be- because she was growling…and I…I saw it."

She wiped her eyes and Tony finally asked her what she saw.

She shuddered and finally whispered, "The Boogeyman."

"Who?" Pepper asked, looking confused.

Tony leaned back, feeling relieved that it wasn't an actual person, "Sadie, come on, I told you last night that he doesn't exist."

Sadie stared up at him pleading with her eyes, "Daddy, I saw him!"

"Sade's, what you saw was just a bad dream, nothing more." Tony confirmed.

"No!" She shrieked, "He was real! He_ is_ real! He was…he was tall and he had…claws and dark eyes and he creaked when he moved his body…and…and when he breathes I can hear him…"

"Sadie, enough." Tony said, cutting her off, "Come on, I know you're smarter than this. That was obviously a nightmare you were having. And from what I know, nightmares don't cause windows to break."

"Daddy, it was real! He was there! I saw him!" she cried, "I screamed and he started walking towards me, he was smiling! Daddy, I was really scared!"

"And then I turned on the lights and you obviously woke up and he was gone, right?" Tony asked.

"NO! I was awake the whole time. I remember because I had to go to the bathroom. But then he disappeared when the lights came on. And then I looked around and I heard a ringing sound and then the glass broke!"

"What kind of a ringing sound?" Tony asked.

"Like a dog whistle, it was really high pitched and it hurt my ears."

"Sadie it could have been Jarvis malfunctioning." Pepper cut in.

"YOU DON'T BELIEVE ME!" Sadie sobbed angrily.

"Sadie," Pepper consoled, "we know you have nightmares sometimes and accidents happen, but we don't want you to be scared of something that-"

"You don't believe me!" Sadie cried, jumping up and running to her dad's room, sobbing.

Tony sighed, sitting back some more and rubbing his neck.

"Tony, I'm worried about her." Pepper said, staring sadly after Sadie, "Do you think she's associating Parker with the Boogeyman? Or maybe even any others who have hurt her?"

"It wouldn't surprise me," Tony admitted, "but seriously Pep, I bet it's just a phase. It'll go away sooner than we think." He said.

"God I hope so." Pepper said, "She looked so frightened."

"A few days in bed with us and redecorating her room, she'll forget all about this thing." Tony said, "Shoot, I'll even wear my suit before she goes to bed and pretend to scare away the monsters if that makes her feel better."

Pepper smiled briefly but then sighed, getting up, "Let's just hope this doesn't get out of hand."

"Trust me, Pep, with me as her dad, she'll figure out real fast there's nothing I can't handle and the monster's will no longer be a problem." Tony smiled.

….

Tony wasted no time in getting someone to fix up Sadie's room. He was tired of looking at it in disarray and couldn't stand the thought of his daughter living in unfit conditions. She was a Stark for God's sake!

He made sure that the glass was as unbreakable as possible. In addition, he was glad to finally be able to paint her room a light pink with gold sponge painting to make it look extra glamorous. Sadie took over the decorating and furniture arrangement and he was glad to see her active and happy for the next couple of days. She was sleeping better and seemed less stressed.

The only thing left he had to do was discreetly install a camera in her room. He hated to do it but he had to make sure that in case anything happened, he would be able to understand the cause of it. Not to mention, he could finally show her that all those scary things were just her imagination and nothing more.

It was Sadie's last night sleeping in their room, but he could tell she was excited for the room to be finished and to be the princess of her new pink room. Tony was relieved too. Pepper had been using the time to finish her packing and move in day at a time and he would be relieved to finally be sleeping next to her again. Not that he minded Sadie staying with him; he was just ready for adult company instead.

"Okay, Tony." Pepper said, coming downstairs and getting her purse and jacket, "Sadie's taking a bath right now, so make sure she gets out in 20 minutes, no later!" she advised.

Tony mock saluted her, smiling, and kissed her good night and watched her leave, sadly. He sighed and went upstairs to check on Sadie.

"Sir, there seems to be a glitch occurring with a few of the camera's set up, assistance is needed." Jarvis interrupted as he was walking upstairs.

He huffed and turned right around to go to his workshop. Sadie would be fine, she was eight now, so he was certain she could handle a bath.

…

Sadie was humming a tune to herself while playing with her bath toys. It was very peaceful in her dad's bathroom and she had never really noticed how huge it was. The tub was so big she probably could have had swimming lessons in it. She enjoyed making snowmen out of the bubbles. She'd forgotten the last time she'd even seen snow. She giggled as she blew off its head, spreading bubbles everywhere.

She heard the door in his room and figured he'd come to tell her to get out. She decided to finish washing herself before her time ran out.

She scrubbed her face, quickly and reached for the washcloth, her eyes closed.

"Five more minutes, Daddy!" she called, wiping her face with the washcloth she found.

She finally opened her eyes and gasped, her stomach twisting.

She wasn't in the tub anymore. She was in some kind of dirty lake. She looked down and realized she was holding mud and gunk in her hands. She panicked and splashed, trying to find a way out. She suddenly felt stuck in the mud she was attempting to flee from. It felt heavy and she struggled to get herself out. She panted and fought with her arms, trying to get out of the nasty water.

"Daddy!" she called, finally crawling out, naked and muddy. She shivered and looked around the foggy lakeside. It was dark and all she could feel was wet grass and mud. The wind was bone chilling and she shivered, hugging her knees close, trying to get warm. She looked up and saw what looked to be the opening to some woods but she didn't know how far they went. She turned around and could see a building about a mile away. She tried to focus in and see what it looked like. Almost like some kind of small school building. It looked abandoned. She wondered if it was the same school she'd seen before.

She looked around, trying to find a way out, "Daddy?!" she called, hugging her knees tighter, trying to stay calm.

She closed her eyes, hoping to wake up and make it all go away.

She screamed as something grabbed her ankle from the mud. She was horrified to see a corpse-like hand coming out from the mud and pulling her back into the lake.

"NO! NO!" she screamed, clawing at anything she could to get away. She could feel the cold water again and was actually being dragged deeper into the lake. She turned and screamed as more hands from the water were grabbing at her, pulling her under.

"DADDY!" she screamed, trying to fight them off. Hands kept coming. She was hearing the ringing sound again as she was pulled under the water. What greeted her under the water was what she could only describe as a true nightmare. The hands were attached to corpses alright, but their faces were what stood out to her. They were twisted, deformed and their eyes were blank sockets, their mouths open and making a sound of tortured cries. They just kept reaching and screaming, getting closer to her, advancing on her.

She was almost out of breath, she couldn't scream. She was trapped. These faces, these horrible faces were going to drag her with them…

She coughed as she was pulled out, gasping for air.

"Jesus Christ, Sadie!" Tony yelled, dragging her out of the tub.

She coughed and opened her eyes as her dad covered her with a towel, wiping her face. He patted her back gently, muttering expletives the whole time.

"I go away for five minutes and come back up to you drowning in the freaking tub!" he said, continuing to dry her.

"I was in a lake!" Sadie choked out, still trying to clear her throat of the sudsy water.

"Sadie, you were in a tub. I don't know how big your imagination can get at this point." Tony said, "Are you okay?"

She looked around and realized she truly was in his bathroom. She looked quickly at the tub and saw only bubbles on top of the water. No hands, no mud…no faces.

She looked up at her dad, who was looking angry and confused at the same time.

"What the hell were you thinking?" he asked her, finally picking her up in the towel and carrying her to the bedroom.

"Daddy…"

"You could have been killed, Sadie! I mean, it's one thing to run loose on a Hellicarrier to escape a massive Hulk, but to just play lake in the tub and try to drown-"

"Daddy I wasn't playing!"

"Damn straight, you were drowning." He said, putting her down on the bed and finishing drying her off.

She finally grabbed his arms and looked at him, close to tears, "Daddy, I was in a lake! I was being dragged under! I swear it!"

"Sadie that is enough! Your imagination is just getting way out of hand now. For God's sake, just grow up!"

She smacked his hands away and stared at him, "Why won't you believe me? Something was trying to drown me! I didn't do it on purpose!"

"I'm sure you didn't do it on purpose, but you can't play around like that!" he said.

"I wasn't playing, it was REAL!" she screamed, finally letting her tears flow.

He sighed, rubbing his eyes, "Sade's, I'm not going to tell you again. There is no Boogeyman, and there is nothing in the tub, I repeat, NOTHING!"

"It was real." She sobbed.

"Enough!" Tony finally shouted, making her jump, "Starting tomorrow, I don't want to hear any more crap about monsters, got it?"

Her bottom lip trembled as he finished getting her nightdress on. She wouldn't look at him.

"No more ghost stories, no more screaming about nothing, time to grow up." He repeated, attempting to get her tucked in.

She looked sadly at him and didn't say anything. He finally sighed, not sure what to do until he decided to finally utilize his cameras.

"Tell you what, come on downstairs and we'll look at the footage. I put a camera up here and it looks into the bathroom. The door was open, right? We'll see if there were really any monsters."

Sadie didn't say anything but followed him downstairs anyways.

He held her hand and led her to his workroom computer system and asked Jarvis to rewind the footage from his room.

"Accessing footage, sir…rewinding now." Jarvis answered.

Tony sat in his chair and put Sadie in his lap, "We'll watch it together and I'll show you that there's nothing to be scared of, okay?"

Tony stopped it to where Pepper left. The door to the bathroom was open and you could just see Sadie in the tub from a distance.

"Jarvis, zoom in to see Sadie better." Tony instructed, "Clean up the clarity a little."

Sadie and Tony watched the tape. Sadie started out playing with her bubbles. Tony watched as she seemed happy and playful one minute and then quickly washed her face the next. Something by the camera caught his eye, however.

"Jarvis, zoom out a second and rewind the last few seconds." He said.

Sadie leaned forward, her eyes widening. She remembered this was when she thought her father had come in. It hadn't been…

Both he and Sadie leaned in and watched as his bedroom door closed slowly, by itself.

Tony and Sadie watched as Sadie was still rubbing her face with the washcloth and the bathroom door slowly shut as well.

The camera started going fuzzy and static.

"What the hell?" Tony mumbled, trying to fix it on the computer, to no avail.

All Sadie could do was watch as the camera finally went back to normal and both the bathroom door and Tony's bedroom door were wide open. They watched as Tony walked into his room and went straight to the bathroom only to find Sadie wasn't there. They watched as he looked around, nearly slipping on the water on the floor and then ran out to his room yelling and then running back in and reaching into the tub to grab Sadie.

"Stop." Tony said, leaning back in his chair, not quite sure what to say.

"Daddy…" Sadie started.

"Don't Sadie," Tony said, "that doesn't mean there's a Boogeyman; it just means I need to close my windows and put carpet in the bathroom."

"That's not what I was saying." Sadie said, "Was there water on the floor in the bathroom?"

"Yeah, why?"

Sadie didn't say anything, instead shook her head and gulped.

Tony finally got up, carrying her, "I think we've both established that windows are a huge problem in this house and that you need to be careful in the bathroom from now on. It's not a water park in there Sade's."

Sadie ignored him. She couldn't get the image of all those faces out of her head. What were they? What did they want with her? And what was at that school? Shoot, what happened to that school? Where was it?

All these questions and more rang in her head as he carried her to bed and tucked her in.

"Okay, I want you to just get some sleep Sade's. You obviously need it."

She nodded sadly and turned on her side as he kissed her forehead and went to clean up the bathroom and get ready for bed. Sadie pretended to sleep until he finally crawled in next to her. And as mad as she was at him for not believing her, she couldn't help but feel just too scared to not curl up next to him to feel his warmth and listen to the hum of his chest piece next to hers.

She closed her eyes.


	4. Chapter 4

Sadie's eyes shot open and she blinked as her dad's chest piece light nearly blinded her. She rubbed her eyes and turned over to look at the clock. Sure enough, 3:35 flashed on the screen. She sighed and turned over to face her dad again. He was snoring softly. She tried closing her eyes when she heard the sound of thunder. Then she realized it was raining outside the window. She opened her eyes and sure enough, saw lightning and heard the thunder follow it.

She tried to close her eyes once again, but then they shot open as she suddenly realized how badly she needed to use the bathroom.

She squeezed her legs and prayed that maybe she could just go back to sleep and hold it till morning, but boy did she really need to go.

She groaned inwardly and decided that her choices were to either to go quickly into the bathroom where the creepy faces appeared to her or wet her dad's bed. The latter sounded worse for some odd reason.

She sat up slowly and nearly jumped as the thunder crashed through the house, making it shake.

She looked around the dark room slowly and then towards the bathroom. The lights were off and it looked even darker from the bed.

The thunder and lightning went off again and she finally said, "Bathroom lights!"

Jarvis turned on the lights to the bathroom for her and she breathed a sigh of relief. There was nothing in there.

She giggled to herself, trying to make light of how pathetic she was being and got up, determined not to get scared tonight. She'd show her dad she could handle herself.

She walked into the now lighted bathroom and finally relieved herself.

She looked over at the tub as she flushed the toilet and couldn't help but sneak a look. She walked over to it slowly and gulped.

She looked into the tub and the lights went out.

She gasped and jumped back, "J-Jarvis?" she whimpered.

She saw her dad still on the bed and tried to go to him when the door closed on her.

She fiddled with the doorknob and it wouldn't open.

She panted and kept trying when she heard a crackling sound of what almost sounded like bones grinding. A sound that sent shivers up her spine. She knew that sound.

She sobbed and looked into the mirror on the door in front of her.

She saw it right behind her in the dark, illuminated by the lightning.

She couldn't even scream as her eyes grew wide. It was dark, it was tall, and its claws were reaching towards her.

She panicked as she tried the doorknob again.

"LIGHTS!" she yelled.

The lights went on as she pulled open the door and ran to her father's bed, quickly diving under the covers next to him.

She hid under the blankets, shivering, her eyes closed. She sobbed quietly, holding her mouth shut so she wouldn't wake her father up.

She finally took a deep breath and pulled the covers off of her face.

The light in the bathroom was still on and she sneaked a look around the room.

Nothing.

"Lights off Jarvis." She said quietly but shakily.

The lights went off and she still didn't see anything.

She lay back down next to her father and tried closing her eyes.

Her dad shifted next to her and her eyes shot open as she heard the crackling sound again. Tight next to her on the bed.

She looked slowly at her father. Only it wasn't her father.

The face of the Boogeyman, dark and soulless was smiling at her with bloody teeth, hissing at her.

This time she screamed.

"SADIE! Sadie wake up!" Tony yelled.

The lights went on and Sadie saw her father on top of her, shaking her.

She gasped and choked for air.

"Hey, it's okay now." He said gently, smoothing her hair from her eyes.

She cried and he held her, "It's okay Sadie." He said.

She kept crying and all he could do was hold her and pat her back, hoping she'd eventually calm down.

He looked around the room, not really seeing anything, but he already knew that, considering it was just a bad nightmare she was having.

"I think all that nonsense with SHIELD did a number on you kiddo." He chuckled, rocking her.

She didn't say anything but she did seem to calm down a little.

He finally released her a little and got a look at her face, smoothing her hair again, "You okay?"

She wiped her eyes and nodded, still looking upset.

He heard the thunder and decided that maybe putting a movie on for them was a good idea.

"How about _Tangled_?" he asked. It was her new favorite movie and to be honest the freaking horse in it was hilarious to Tony. At first he let Pepper do all the princess movies with her but some of them were classics so he couldn't resist. Yep, even Ironman had a few crushes on some Disney Princesses.

She nodded, smiling a little, and he had Jarvis play it while he got them comfortable in bed again. He held her close and was glad to see her fall back asleep near the middle of the movie. He sighed and turned it off.

He quickly left her to go to the bathroom. He did his business and turned around and noticed something on the ground by the tub. He bent down and got a better look and his stomach turned.

Tiny scratch marks, just like the one's he'd seen in Sadie's room before. He looked towards the tub where the marks ended.

He looked towards Sadie asleep on the bed and then back again at the floor.

First thing tomorrow, he was looking at the footage again.

…..

Sorry I'm gonna stop there for now guys. Hope you liked the creepiness or at least got scared, considering that was my intent lol. See you next time!


	5. Chapter 5

Tony made sure that Pepper took Sadie out on a shopping trip for the day. He did not want to be disturbed by anyone while watching the footage from last night.

He almost didn't want to, but he just had to figure out what was really going on with Sadie. And he needed sheer proof for her that she was just dreaming this stuff up.

He finally got to the part where Sadie nearly drowned in the bathtub. He watched as his bedroom door closed and then the bathroom door. He was really trying to find out why the camera got glitchy at this moment but then stops right as he shows up on camera with both doors open again. It didn't make sense.

He rewound it back to the glitches.

"Jarvis, try clearing this up in slow motion for me." He instructed

"Attempting, sir." Jarvis answered.

Tony drank his coffee and almost choked when something caught his eyes, "Stop!"

He put his cup down slowly and told Jarvis to pause and go back.

"What the hell is that?" he muttered. He could just barely see but the bathroom door was open again and in the shot he could see Sadie looking terrified in the tub, but there was something in the tub with her.

He couldn't make it out.

"Zoom in on Sadie." He told Jarvis, trying not to sound shaky.

"Clear up the image."

"Jarvis, please tell me what that looks like to you?" Tony asked, pointing to the object that was clearly sending chills up his spine.

"It appears to be some sort of hand or arm. It could be Miss Starks." Jarvis answered.

Tony looked closer. There was no way that was Sadie's. It was darker and it was on her shoulder.

He sat back and shook his head, squinting his eyes, "Print the picture Jarvis. And keep going."

He decided to watch if anything had happened last night to make Sadie scream. He finally watched the footage as she went to the bathroom. He could see the lights on and she was going to the bathroom. Nothing unusual, she seemed fine.

He saw her get up and go to the tub. He wondered what she was exactly doing when the bathroom lights went off and his bathroom door closed.

He didn't see anything for a minute but then the lights went back on and Sadie shot back into his bed and seemed to hide for a moment, the lights in the bathroom still on. He wondered why none of that nonsense woke him up.

Eventually the lights turned off and Sadie seemed to fall back asleep, but he knew what was coming. He watched as Sadie screamed and woke him up. What disturbed him was that she was looking at his silhouette in the bed and screaming.

Now he thought of it, she really wasn't dreaming. She couldn't have fallen back into a REM sleep that fast after being up. REM sleep occurred after at least 70-90 minutes when falling asleep, and even then, there were stages before it. None of it made sense.

He shook his head, rewinding the tape in slow motion so he couldn't miss anything.

After watching the series of events slowly three times, he gave up and decided to just continue the tape for the rest of the night.

He was at the point where they were watching "Tangled" in bed. He rubbed his eyes and kind of smiled as he watched Sadie and himself curl up to watch it. They loved movie nights with popcorn and soda's. They always had fun bonding that way.

He almost turned it off when he saw it. Something whizzed in front of the camera. It was quick, but his eyes were quicker.

"Rewind then slow motion, Jarvis." He instructed.

He looked carefully and watched as the strange black passing object zoomed past the camera, only this time he could make out a hand. It was too dark to tell, but he knew claws when he saw them.

His eyes widened and he sat back, covering his mouth.

He finally forced himself to look away.

"Shall I print the object in the picture, sir?" Jarvis asked, bringing him back to the present.

"Yeah." He said, "And do me a favor and get Fury to call me as soon as possible. I don't know why but I feel like this might be something he can understand more than I can."

"Contacting sir. I will alert you should he answer."

Tony sat back again and didn't know what he was looking at. All he knew was that his little girl was telling the truth. Granted it might not be the Boogeyman, but he wasn't about to test that theory if her life might be in danger.

….

Pepper came home and helped get Sadie moved back into her room. She'd gotten her some new things for her room and now it looked like a bedroom fit for the daughter of Tony Stark.

Sadie forgot everything that had happened in the past few nights and nearly twirled in her new room, feeling excellent.

"And the veterinarian called and said Kala should be ready to come home this weekend. She's healing very nicely." Pepper smiled.

Sadie was so glad. She'd been worried sick that her dog was dying but was glad that the vet kept her for a few extra days to help her heal.

She saw her dad come upstairs and went quickly to tell him the good news.

She stopped when she saw his face. He looked pale and tired, like something was bothering him.

"Daddy?" she asked.

He looked up and quickly smiled, "Hey Sade's, how was shopping?"

"Good…" Sadie said, coming closer, "Daddy, are you okay?"

"Yep!" he said, cheerfully, "I was just lost in thought cause now I have to get ready to have a barking dog back in my house." He joked, "I was kind of thinking of a Chihuahua or something."

Sadie almost didn't buy the joke, but she did grin and glared at him playfully.

"Pepper said I can stay in my new room tonight!" she smiled, "Daddy, it looks so lovely! Thank you!"

He smiled and picked her up, kissing her cheek, "You are most welcome Miss Stark."

Sadie could tell he was still very depressed about something, but knew he wouldn't tell her what it was. She hoped he didn't plan on taking her to some hospital or sending her away because he thought she'd been lying all this time.

The thought nearly brought her to tears.

Pepper came in and broke everyone's train of thought by announcing dinner time.

….

Pepper was kind of annoyed that it was such a silent dinner. Sure it was only take-out, but Sadie looked depressed, picking at her food. Tony looked tired and upset about something as he shoveled food into his mouth without thought.

Pepper didn't know what was going on, but she was feeling lonelier these days than usual, so maybe if she stayed the night, that would help.

"Sadie, are you excited to stay in your room tonight?" Pepper asked, trying to break the silence.

Sadie nodded, but continued to stare at her food.

"Well, I figured that just in case, I'll stay with you and your dad tonight." She smiled.

Tony almost choked on his food. Pepper was staying the night! He almost whooped for joy.

He quickly collected himself and nodded politely and smiled, playing it smooth.

Pepper winked at him but was sad that Sadie didn't even crack a smile.

Something was definitely up with these two. She didn't want to have to play bad cop at the moment, but she was Pepper Potts, and no one could make Tony or Sadie crack the way she could.

"All right, spill." She said loudly, causing Tony and Sadie to look up at her, "What happened last night?"

She looked dead serious, giving each of them her glare.

Tony and Sadie looked at each other and Sadie looked down at her lap, causing Tony to feel awful. He hadn't really even told her he was sorry for yelling at her last night. He'd just figured she'd moved on.

"Sadie?" Pepper asked her, looking concerned.

"It's my fault." Tony admitted sitting back.

Sadie looked back up in shock.

Pepper glared at him, "What happened, Tony? What did you do?"

Sadie came to his rescue, "I almost drowned in the tub last night and Daddy yelled at me."

"WHAT?!" Pepper shrieked, glaring at Tony, "Why didn't you call me?!"

Tony sighed and held up his hand, boy he was tired.

"Daddy was scared, and I should have been more careful." Sadie said, sounding very compliant.

"How did it happen? Oh sweetie, are you okay?" Pepper asked.

Sadie nodded, "I was just playing around and almost drowned is all, but Daddy pulled me out. He just wants me safe is all."

"Sadie-" Tony said. He knew what she was doing. She was merely doing what he'd ordered her to do instead of tell the truth. But now that he knew, he couldn't let her lie to Pepper like this.

"I know I need to be a better listener and grow up, Daddy. I'll be better. I promise." Sadie said.

Pepper glared at him again.

Tony couldn't stand it anymore, "Sadie, what I told you last night…I was wrong."

Sadie stared at him.

He sighed and pulled the pictures out from his pocket. He almost didn't want to, but, his little girl was scared and she needed him to believe her, to be there for her.

Sadie took the pictures and tears came to her eyes as she turned deathly pale. She looked up at him and he nodded sadly.

Pepper took them and gasped, her hand went to her mouth, "Tony, what is this?"

Tony put his hands together on the table and leaned forward, looking at them both sadly, "I think that's what's been bothering Sadie for the past week."

"What is it?" Pepper asked.

"I honestly don't know, but I'm not gonna rest until we do figure it out."

"You believe me?" Sadie cried.

He nodded, "I never should have said any of that last night. I should have listened to you. I'm…I'm sorry, Sade's."

She got up running to him and hugged him. So relieved that he believed her, "You aren't gonna send me away?" she sobbed.

"God no! Why the hell would I do that? You get kidnapped so many damn times I have to keep bringing you home!" he laughed, putting her in his lap.

Pepper looked grim, "Tony…this is…is this what broke Sadie's window? What hurt Kala?"

Tony looked at Sadie and she nodded.

"And it almost drowned you last night?" Pepper said, sitting back, "God Tony, what are we dealing with?"

"Definitely not Casper." Tony muttered, then looked at Sadie in his lap, "Sade's calls it the Boogeyman."

He could feel Sadie shudder as he said it.

Pepper put the pictures down and shook her head, "So what do we do?"

Tony shrugged, "I called Fury, but I'm waiting to see if he calls back. He might know what to do."

Pepper leaned in and looked at Sadie, "Sadie, did you want to stay with Tony tonight, or did you want me to stay with you?"

Sadie thought for a minute, then shook her head, "I think I'll be okay. Maybe being in my new room will be different."

Tony almost told her to screw the new room, but she had a point. Plus, from the looks of it, the thing in the photos was in his room, so maybe nothing would happen tonight. He almost didn't want to play a guessing game with his daughter, but he knew that Jarvis would watch her and that he'd upped security since then. He felt somewhat better knowing that.

He finally nodded, "We'll be upstairs if you need anything. ANYTHING" he iterated.

She nodded and finally seemed to smile, "I feel better now because you know, Daddy. Maybe he'll go away because you believe me and get scared cause you're Iron Man."

Tony grinned and kissed her forehead.

….

Pepper lay next to Tony in his bed, wearing one of his old t-shirts. She hadn't even bothered to go home to get anything, but considering he only wanted her naked half the time it didn't bother him one bit.

She had her head on his shoulder, her hand on his chest. His hand covered hers as he lay next to her.

"Tony, do you think she'll be okay?" Pepper asked, "Maybe I should have stayed down there with her."

"I hope so, but she needs this I think. And besides, she knows where to find us. She'll be okay." Tony said. More for himself than anything. He didn't know if he'd be able to sleep tonight. Hell he'd probably be getting up every 20 minutes to go check on her.

"You know I was hoping that once you stayed the night we could…" he muttered as his other hand found her butt and pinched it.

She giggled and smacked it away, "Be good, you know we have time for that once I move in."

"But you know me, I'm impatient." He whined, grinning at her and inching closer to her.

She giggled and tried pushing him away before he got on top of her. Too late.

He kissed her deeply and she gave in, letting him work his magic on her. It felt good to be held by him again. To be kissed, and hell, to be underneath him in bed.

She was so lost in the moment, she hadn't even noticed Tony had turned off the lights.

He was attempting to get her as shirtless as he was, but was too distracted with kissing her.

No girl ever got him crazy like Pepper did. All his classic moves went out the window and he always felt that being with her was like the first time.

He hadn't felt more relaxed all week. He didn't even notice that he'd finally gotten her shirt off. All he needed were the panties.

He opened his eyes to get a good look at her and found she was obviously in a trance as he was hoping for. He still had it.

He was kissing her neck and shoulders like a pro and Pepper couldn't resist giving him easy access and moving her head to the side. She opened her eyes-

"OH MY GOD!" Pepper shrieked, actually managing to push Tony away. He was a little hurt and dazed at first but then looked over and saw it too.

"Sadie?" he asked.

Pepper covered up and looked concerned, "Sadie?"

Sadie stood there in her night dress. She didn't say anything. She just…stood there, staring. Her head was cocked to the side and she looked different. Almost like a stranger giving them an evil look.

"Sadie…" Tony tried again, "Hey, snap out of it."

Her head came up slowly and she looked at him. Her mouth opened and Tony covered his ears as he heard the most earth shattering scream.

He didn't know how long it lasted, only that once it went quiet and the lights went on, Sadie was on the ground, her eyes closed.

He ran to her and Pepper found her shirt, covering up and ran to her as well.

He shook her chest, "Sadie!" he yelled, "Sadie, wake up!"

"Should I call Dr. Hill?" Pepper said, tears coming to her eyes.

Sadie suddenly opened her eyes and gasped, looking up at them in surprise. She rubbed her eyes and looked around, confused, "Daddy?"

"You okay?" he asked, smoothing her hair.

"How did I get up here?" she asked, sobbing.

Tony and Pepper exchanged a horrified look.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey all, so this chapter is very important as far as information and what's really going on with Sadie. The scares are coming in the next one. **

**Also, if any of you like Rise of the Guardians, I have also written a new fanfic for it called "Seasons May Change" if you wanna check it out! **

**Enjoy!**

…**..**

Tony sat in his lab the next morning, his head in his hands. He'd watched both Sadie's bedroom and his bedroom videos from last night. He didn't see anything out of the ordinary, just Sadie walking creepily to his room to stare at him and Pepper for a good 5 minutes before screaming. The only thing he did notice was how Sadie screamed. It was almost like her face shifted and changed, like some kind of creepy horror movie monster. Her eyes turned black, her mouth wide open, her face nearly shifting into two faces.

He printed the picture and just sat there, not sure what else he could do. He was getting tired of waiting on Fury to call him.

Only Fury did one better and actually came to Tony's house. Tony had decided to start working on his suit when he turned and nearly fell out of his skin.

"Jesus! Why do you do that?!" he yelled at Fury, "And I said you could call me." He muttered.

Fury merely smiled and came closer, examining the suit, "Is this why you contacted me?" he asked.

Tony put down what he was doing and shook his head.

He wiped his forehead and finally sighed, "Look, I don't know how to even begin to explain this, but maybe you can." He said as he led Fury to his desk.

He picked up the pictures and then handed them to Fury, "See what you can make of these."

Fury took them and raised his eyebrows as he looked at them. Tony wasn't sure if he'd ever seen Fury look more spooked. He put them down and sighed as well.

"Well?" Tony asked, drinking his lukewarm coffee.

Fury actually chuckled, "If I didn't know any better, I'd say Sadie's got herself a ghost."

"Oh please." Tony muttered.

"No, no, hear me out." Fury said, "I've been around long enough, seen some things even I can't explain…"

"Go on." Tony said, taking a seat. Fury followed his lead and sat down as well.

"There are some things in this world we can't explain with science, and some we can."

"I like the sound of the science, keep going." Tony quickly said.

Fury smiled, "In my time, such technology didn't even exist and we had creeps faking séances and crap just to explain it all."

Tony listened.

"But now, there are things called EVP's and Spirit Boxes and all that to explain it scientifically, but sometimes, not even that stuff can help a person begin to understand what's really going on."

"So, great, let's do this science stuff and figure out why this thing is hanging around Sadie." Tony suggested.

Fury looked at him, "Not so easy. If this thing is clever, it knows how to play games with you and her, mess with your heads. That might mean it's something totally different and something that not even I am willing to mess around with."

"Okay, so we do it the old fashioned way." Tony said.

"That would just make it worse, Stark." Fury said, "If you toy around with this thing, it's letting it deeper into Sadie's head and yours. Meaning this thing will stop at nothing and get stronger by the minute."

"How strong, we talking? Like Hulk strong?"

Fury smiled grimly, "If only."

He turned to the computer and told Jarvis to find a file called "Exorcisms". Tony watched in shock as Jarvis pulled up pictures of men and women, some children, who were battered and bruised, looking horrible and empty.

Then Fury clicked a file and Tony saw it was a recording of something. He nearly covered his ears as the most earth-shattering screaming came from the computers, followed by growling voices and painful cries for help. It reminded him awfully of how horrible Sadie's screams were last night and he almost shut it off.

Fury took pity on him and stopped it, looking sad, "I had the misfortune of witnessing an exorcism gone terribly wrong a while back."

"What happened?" Tony asked, getting pale.

"Girl, not much older than Sadie. Sweet thing never hurt a fly…suddenly, she started seeing things, hearing voices that weren't there. At first they thought it was psychological, but then, she started getting scratches, cuts, bruises, you name it. And that's when they saw it…"

"Saw what?"

Fury held up the picture Tony had taken with the clawed hand, "This kind of hand mark on her back. Like someone imprinted it. No way could she have done that herself."

Tony listened, his stomach clenching.

"It only went from bad to worse. The girl was starting to speak oddly, in different languages and voices. She was also starting to contort, sometimes levitate."

Fury sighed and then looked at Tony, "Eventually, we tried doing what we could for her, but the damn thing got her before we could. Made her last moments on earth a living hell before dragging her to hell with it."

Tony sat back and shook his head, "Seriously? A demon? Since when has Sadie even had time to dabble in devil worship?"

Fury looked at him, "That girl didn't 'dabble' with devil worship. Most people don't have to. This stuff just finds any victim it can to make their lives miserable."

"Well, I'm not convinced this thing is a demon. I mean, Sadie calls it the Boogeyman."

"They don't have to be called demons to make someone's life a living hell." Fury said, looking sadly at the pictures, "But I don't know if that's really what you're seeing here, Stark."

"Okay, then what am I seeing?" Tony asked, rubbing his forehead.

"Only one way to find out." Fury said.

Tony looked up as Fury spoke to Jarvis, "I'm gonna need you to contact Dr. Gregory Niles and his team to come out here to Stark's place for an evaluation."

"Contacting…" Jarvis said, "Message sent."

"Send him a copy of those pictures too. He'll be out here pretty fast once he sees 'em." Fury told Jarvis.

He turned to Tony and nodded, taking his leave.

"So…wait! What am I supposed to do until then?" Tony asked Fury as he left.

"You'll know, Stark." Fury replied, "And I suggest you take Dr. Niles seriously when he comes. He may just save your daughter's life."

….

Sadie sat on her bed and pet Kala who'd finally come home, well-rested and content. Kala had her head in Sadie's lap and she whined a little.

"You still need to heal, Kala, I know how you feel." Sadie told her sadly.

She sat back and tried not to think about everything that had happened. As much as she wanted to figure out what that school meant, she just couldn't stand to think about it anymore.

She closed her eyes for a minute to rest.

"Sadie?"

She opened her eyes and gasped.

She had somehow gotten into the living room.

Pepper was at the couch making some calls, looking at her strangely, "Are you okay?" she asked.

Sadie didn't say anything and backed up, confused at how she got here so quickly.

"Sadie?" Pepper said, getting up, "Is something wrong?"

Sadie shook her head and hightailed it to her room, slamming the door shut.

She slid down the wall and buried her head into her knees, trying not to cry.

She didn't know how much longer she could do this. She prayed her daddy had a plan. A good one.

…

Nobody really had the energy to eat anything that night. They all sort of stared at their food and stayed silent. Even Pepper didn't want to touch her food and she made it.

Tony looked exhausted, Sadie looked dead on her feet, and Pepper just felt terrible.

Even Kala wasn't her usual self.

Tony rubbed his eyes and looked sadly at Sadie, thinking of those poor kids who'd died from this sort of thing. He couldn't let that happen to his daughter, he wouldn't.

They all jumped as a knock sounded at the door. They looked at one another uneasily.

"Sir, a Dr. Niles is here with his group of investigators." Jarvis announced.

"That was fast." Tony muttered and left the table.

"Who-" Pepper started but didn't finish as Tony left very quickly and came back with three men and two women. Some of them carried strange suitcases and others had files in their hands.

Sadie stared at them, confused.

Tony shook hands with the older man in the group. He was dressed like some sort of college professor, tie, sweater-vest and all. He had graying brown hair and glasses on. He smiled warmly at Sadie and Pepper.

Sadie took a look at the others. The two men were wearing everyday clothes and speaking low to one another and putting their suitcases down. One woman was holding a file behind Dr. Niles and the other was a very odd looking woman. She was very young, almost 24, and she had very bright blonde hair and vibrant blue eyes. Her face seemed almost too bright and she looked as though she were in her own world as she looked around.

Tony brought them over and the older man spoke with a smile, "Hello, you must be Miss Potts and Sadie; I'm Dr. Niles, good to meet you."

He shook hands with both Sadie and Pepper, "This is my team; my technicians, Mark and Eli, my researcher, Ellen, and our clairvoyant, Mia."

"I'm sorry, did you say…clairvoyant?" Pepper asked, looking dumbstruck. She glared at Tony, "Can I talk to you please." She demanded and she and Tony left the room to go and argue. Sadie could care less, she turned around and ignored the group as they set up and spoke.

Suddenly, Dr. Niles sat down at the table with the clairvoyant, Mia, "You look like you've seen some pretty bad things, Sadie." He commented.

She looked up at him sadly and nodded.

Mia smiled at her and held out her hand. Sadie took it tentatively and watched as Mia's face turned dark and frightened. She let go and looked at Niles, nodding.

He looked at Sadie and smiled, "It's going to be just fine now Sadie, we're all here to help you. Fury is a good friend of mine."

Sadie smiled at that. If Fury trusted this guy, then she sure could.

Tony and an angry looking Pepper came back. She had her arms crossed and glanced at each group member as though assessing them.

She came over to Sadie and picked her up protectively.

Dr. Niles and Mia stood up, "Mr. Stark," he said, "I have no doubt in my years of research and practice that Sadie is indeed being haunted by something very malevolent and evil."

Pepper held Sadie tighter and put her hand on her head.

"You haven't even done anything yet." Tony commented.

"Sadie's symptoms she just exhibited, yours and Miss Potts, Mia touching her, the pictures, everything. I've seen it all before." He explained.

Pepper sat down on the couch with Sadie and Tony joined them. Dr. Niles pulled up a chair.

Tony took Sadie in his lap and held her close. He hoped this would indeed help them.

Mia sat next to Dr. Niles and he let her begin.

"Sadie am I to understand you've been living for years with heart failure?" she asked.

Sadie looked up in shock and nodded. But a lot of people knew that about her.

"You've died three times under the knife. Including just recently when your father gave you an arc reactor." She said.

Sadie did look up in shock this time and actually stared at her. No one knew that about her, only Pepper and her dad.

"You've also been through some very severe trauma involving a very bad man who did some awful things to you." She continued.

"What does this have to do with-" Tony started.

Mia held up a hand, "Sadie, all of this trauma has affected your psyche. You have the ability now to see and hear things others can't."

Everyone grew quiet as Mia continued, "But when someone dies and comes back, they have become what I call a portal. These are people that spirits and other worldly beings come to to make contact with the living, to become a part of our world."

"What are you trying to say? That Sadie brought this thing here?" Tony asked defensively.

Mia shook her head, "She has no idea that she can, and she certainly never asked for an evil entity to come and hurt her. No, this thing…it set its sights on Sadie because of what she fears. It feeds off of it and longs to take over for one purpose only; to cause pain to others."

Sadie was getting scared now. She didn't realize that all of this was happening because of her.

"What does it want with me?" she asked Mia.

Mia looked at her sadly, "Its goal is to separate you from your father. You have a very strong bond with him and he's trying to tear you both apart, once he does that, he'll possess you. After that, he'll wreak havoc wherever he can, using you and hurting you."

Tony tightened his grip on Sadie.

"Right now though, it appears you are still stronger than he is." Mia commented.

"How?" Sadie asked.

"You've been seeing what it is through visions. You're seeing its past and its weaknesses."

"What?" Tony asked, looking at Sadie, whose mouth fell open.

"You mean the school and the lake?" she asked Mia.

Mia nodded, smiling, "I saw them too and I know that this isn't a demon, but it is very evil and very strong and it will stop at nothing to take over your body."

"But, what happened there? What does it all mean?" Sadie asked Mia.

Mia shook her head, "Only you will find out and that will help you. By knowing what it fears and who it is, you can become stronger than it."

Sadie nodded. As much as she hated those visions, they must be a key to finding out what it was that was haunting her.

"My team is here to not only gather evidence, but to find out how we can stop it." Dr. Niles said, "Mark and Eli will set up cameras, gather EVPs, any scientific data to not only prove that it is here, but also to see what it wants and how we can effectively get rid of it." Dr. Niles said as the two techies waved and continued setting up their equipment. "Ellen will help with the research, any information we may gather on this spirit, she will look up and determine its history. Sadie, I want you to stay close to Mia. This thing has latched onto you and Mia can be your guide as well as your protector in this matter. She will see and hear and feel everything you do, but she's experienced and knows how to combat it."

Sadie nodded and Mia smiled at Tony, "Mr. Stark, I'd like you to also stay close to Sadie, do not let her go in any way, this thing wants to separate you two and the moment it succeeds, Sadie will become weaker. She relies on her father and needs you most of all."

Tony nodded, trying not to gulp.

"All right, let's get started." Dr. Niles said to everyone, "Are you ready?"

Pepper, Tony and Sadie looked at one another and Sadie nodded right away, "I am."

Tony smiled at Pepper, "You bet."

Pepper sighed, "I don't really believe in all of this but if it will help Sadie and Tony, I'm going to stand by them."

Dr. Niles nodded, "Be ready for anything and everything."

"Dude, I'm Iron Man, nothing can get past me." Tony said confidently.

Dr. Niles smiled, "Let's hope so."

Sadie smiled, "I believe in you daddy."

….


	7. Chapter 7

Sadie sat in her dad's lap, who held her tight. Pepper grasped his arm lending support. Tony had no clue what to think of all this. He'd never even imagined he become part of a horror movie. Hell he didn't even believe in all this crap. Now here he was about to become the next episode of Ghost Hunters.

Sadie stared around at all the video cameras and lights. She wondered what good they'd do for her or her family and she didn't like how much darker it was getting outside. Course she had a feeling that had to do with the fact that every single time she had seen this thing was in the daytime.

Before they began, Mark had come over to ask Sadie to describe the Boogeyman to him so he could draw it for them.

As she described this thing, both Pepper and Tony seemed to get paler.

By the time she'd finished, Mark even widened his eyes at what he saw, not sure if he wanted to show anyone else.

He sighed and turned it around, causing Pepper to gasp and Tony to groan inwardly.

Sadie nodded at the picture, indicating that it was indeed what she was seeing.

Tony didn't know if he could look at the picture anymore, but found he couldn't look away. It was disturbing on all levels. This thing was tall and black, with claws for hands. Its face was dark and it had yellow and red eyes with bloody fangs. It was a person, but it was so evil looking it almost wasn't. No wonder Sadie was having nightmares and calling this thing the Boogeyman.

Pepper had tears in her eyes wondering how any child could see something like this and still be brave enough to describe it. Sadie had an imagination but this wasn't imagination, this was disturbing.

Mia looked at the picture as well and nodded.

Dr. Niles finally asked Tony to keep all the lights off to prevent any EMF disturbances, which Jarvis took care of.

Sadie took a breath and tried relaxing but couldn't seem to. Kala was sitting at Tony's feet, resting. Mia was across from them, sitting in the chair. She too looked nervous, but gave off an impression that she was ready to face something head on.

The researcher had left to go find any evidence she could from what Sadie was able to tell her from her visions. Dr. Niles and the two techies had headphones on and were looking ready.

"Okay, Sadie, I'm going to attempt to contact him." Mia said, causing everyone to jump at the sudden noise, "And don't forget, you hold the power against him; you and your father. Stay together and stay strong." She advised, putting her hands in her lap and closing her eyes.

She relaxed more and more and at first, nothing seemed to happen in the quiet and dark until they heard Kala growl unexpectedly.

Tony tensed and Sadie gasped as Mia breathed heavily. Her head was rolling and she looked pained.

Pepper looked horrified as she began to shake in the chair, her mouth open wide.

Kala got up and growled, backing into Tony's legs. Tony put his hand on Kala's neck, offering support.

Suddenly, Mia screamed a horrifying scream and collapsed onto the ground at their feet.

Pepper was about to get up, when Tony grabbed her and held her there. He knew he had to keep Sadie close but he wasn't about to lose Pepper either.

Dr. Niles got up and ran to Mia, carrying a stethoscope.

The lights began flickering on and off. EMF detectors were buzzing and the cameras were starting to act up.

Everyone looked around nervously. Mia lay unconscious on the floor as Dr. Niles checked her pulse.

He was quiet but jumped back when she sat up quickly, her eyes rolling back into her head. She screamed at him again then looked at Sadie, who shrunk into her dad, trying to shield her.

Mia got up slowly and stared at Sadie and Tony with white eyes.

Dr. Niles grabbed her arm suddenly and Mia made an inhuman sound, taking her arm away and smacking him across the face, knocking him across the room.

Sadie looked at what he was holding and it was a rosary.

Mia stood there staring at Sadie, who panted, clutching her dad.

Tony didn't think he'd ever been more afraid.

Dr. Niles came back, holding the rosary on Mia's forehead. He screamed over and over for the spirit to leave the vessel. Mia shrieked for minutes but everything seemed to calm down as the lights finally went off completely and it got quiet.

Mia collapsed and Dr. Niles checked her vitals once again and breathed a sigh of relief, "She's fine, just unconscious." He said, getting up and wiping the blood from his nose.

He had Eli help him move her to another couch when Sadie saw something whiz by. It was dark and smoke-like, but she saw it.

"Daddy…" she whimpered.

"I saw it too." He whispered back, "I'm not letting you go, I promise."

She saw it again, moving around the house quickly.

"EMF is detecting something, but it keeps going off and on." Mark said, still at his station by the computers, "And something is floating around, definitely."

"Take pictures!" Dr. Niles instructed Eli, who got out a digital recorder and started snapping pictures all over the house.

Dr. Niles pulled out a digital recorder and held it around the room, "What do you want?" Dr. Niles asked loudly, looking around, "What's your name?" he paused, "Do you want Sadie?" he asked again, "What do you want with her?"

He finally stopped after a few minutes and hooked it up to the computer by Mark and Eli. He played it back and brought it over to Tony and Sadie, cleaning up the audio so they could hear it.

At first, they didn't capture any EVP's, but when he got to the question about Sadie, the spirit had indeed answered him, in a very chilling voice that sent shivers up Sadie's spine.

"_Do you want Sadie...?"_ they heard Dr. Niles say, and then, "_She's mine_…"

Tony's eyes widened and Pepper put a hand to her mouth to stifle a gasp.

"_What do you want with her…?" _and then again, "_Mine…all mine." _

"You're not touching a hair on her head you sick freak!" Tony yelled.

It got quiet again and Mia groaned. Dr. Niles went over to her and she got up slowly.

He put a hand on her shoulder and she looked around, disoriented. She met Sadie's gaze and looked relieved.

"He's getting stronger now." Mia said.

"We captured some footage and EVP's." Eli told her.

She nodded, "I think we've established it's here, Eli, now we really need to get rid of it."

"How?" Pepper asked her.

"Once Ellen calls us back, we'll know more about this thing." Mia explained, "For now, we be careful. It may give us more information. Do another EVP session."

Dr. Niles got out the recorder again and began asking more questions. Sadie was petting Kala, who was still whining and growling, obviously very stressed.

They all heard a crashing sound in Sadie's room. It sounded like furniture smashing against the wall.

"Nobody move!" Mia yelled, "It's trying to draw us out."

They heard another sound and this time Kala barked and ran towards it.

"Kala NO!" Sadie yelled as Tony held on to her.

Pepper got up to go get her and shrieked as something grabbed her hair and pulled her against the wall. She screamed and struggled as Tony let go of Sadie to go help Pepper. As soon as Tony got Pepper from the wall, he'd realized what he'd done.

Mia was just about to go get Sadie when she was dragged, feet first across the floor. She screamed as they all ran to help her. Her bedroom door opened and Tony managed to grab a hold of her before she was taken in.

He looked up to see the most hideous face staring at him angrily. Tony stared back angrily.

"Not my daughter you fugly son of a bitch!" Tony yelled and used all his strength to pull Sadie towards him. The entity screamed in anger and Tony watched as he let go and slammed the door shut.

Tony cradled a very traumatized Sadie in his arms on the floor, Pepper next to him, panting.

He got up with Pepper and ran to the couch to check on Sadie.

"Tony, her legs!" Pepper cried.

Tony looked down and saw massive claw imprints around her ankles. There was also what looked like scratches on her calves.

"Sade's, you okay?" he asked.

He didn't get an answer and figured out why in seconds. Her eyes had gone glassy and blank.

"Sade's!" he yelled, shaking her.

"She's having another vision." Mia explained, walking over and putting her hand on Sadie's chest. She looked up, not sure what to think.

Sadie snapped out of it very quickly and gasped, looking around at her bedroom door, "He's in there!" she cried, clutching her dad, "He's in there!"

"We know." Tony told her calmly, "He's not coming out right now."

"Daddy…I think I know who he is." Sadie said suddenly.

…


	8. Chapter 8

**I apologize like crazy you guys, I tend to get distracted with like 5 other stories I'm doing and then I realize I forgot to finish one. Whoops! Okay, I am back and the next few chapters should be the finish before Iron Man 3 comes out. I cannot wait! I am so glad you guys like this story and are enjoying it! Thanks for being patient and for still sticking with me! **

…

Mia had Sadie lay on the couch with the lights finally on. The activity had calmed down some and people were icing any bruises and cleaning up any messes caused from the chaos. But Sadie's words had a huge impact on everyone; she knew who it was.

Only problem was her memory didn't go as far back, which is why she didn't recognize her visions. So Mia's job was to use hypnosis to take her back.

She had Tony hold her head in his lap to keep contact with her while Mia spoke softly to her. Tony nearly drifted but after what he'd seen tonight he didn't know if he could even blink.

He watched as Mia continued to speak softly and coach Sadie to sleep and go back to the school.

Sadie mumbled, "Hospital."

"It's a hospital?" Mia asked her, "Where are you, describe it to us."

"A room…desks and chalkboard…sick kids are learning."

"So there are other children, like you who are sick?"

"Yes." Sadie mumbled.

"Leave the classroom Sadie, where are you now?"

"In my room. Dr. Hecox is talking to my mom and dad."

"What's he saying?" Mia asked.

"That I'm going to die."

Sadie suddenly groaned uncomfortably.

"What's wrong Sadie?" Mia asked, "Where are you, talk to us."

"He's doing surgery on me. I can see it…I'm scared." She cried, "He didn't put me under all the way."

"It's okay, Sadie, just keep going, where are you now?"

"We're moving. My mommy and daddy are moving."

"What else, Sadie, try staying at the hospital, what else do you see? Who do you see?"

"Dr. Hecox…he hurts the kids…he doesn't put them under all the way, he does experiments on them…sometimes he touches them in bad places."

"Is anyone else hurting the kids?" Mia asked.

"There are some mean nurses that yell at the kids…call them a waste of time, tell them to die already."

"Did any of the kids die, Sadie?"

"I wanna leave!" she shouted, "I don't want him to experiment on me!"

"Wake her up!" Tony yelled, "I can't listen to this."

Mia nodded and brought Sadie back, "Wake up in 5…4…3…2…1."

Sadie's eyes shot open and she sat up slowly, "I forgot about him." She commented, "I was only 3 or 4. Mommy and Daddy took me there because Dr. Wu suggested it for when Daddy went on sabbatical from the university. We thought it would be a vacation…but the nurses and the doctor were horrible."

A cell phone rang, causing everyone to jump when Dr. Niles answered, "Hi Ellen, do you have any-"

He paused and listened and then told her he was putting her on speaker.

"Can you all hear me?" she asked through the phone.

"We can hear you." Dr. Niles said, "What did you find out?"

"That school was actually a hospital. But it had school and play therapy for kids."

"What happened?"

"A lot of kids were dying and when one family took their kids to a different morgue they realized that he'd died from mistreatment. Some kids' bodies were even thrown in a lake out by the back apparently to hide evidence."

Sadie's eyes widened, remembering the lake.

Ellen continued, "Eventually it got out that the staff was hurting and killing these kids in horrible ways, using constant surgeries as a way to get money. But when word got out, angry parents went and took matters into their own hands. They burned the place down and found Dr. Hecox. They tied him to a gurney and locked him in the building to die."

Tony rubbed his eyes, feeling sick to his stomach.

"But that's not the worst part." Ellen said, "I did some digging on some of the kids that survived, many of them got out and told their stories, those that remembered, but they ended up dying in their sleep. Parents told medical practitioners that the kids were seeing something horrifying; hallucinating about a terrible creature trying to kill them."

Sadie gasped, her hand going to her mouth.

Dr. Niles sighed, "Thanks Ellen that really puts the puzzle pieces together."

"Anytime." She said and hung up.

Tony hugged Sadie, who was looking very upset.

"Wait!" Eli said quickly and turned on the computer, "The EVP, he said she was his, right? Then he says 'all mine'…"

"And?" Matt asked.

"I think he was talking about all the kids. _All _the kids." Eli said.

"He's trying to get rid of all the evidence." Mia said, "Sadie was young, but her memory is strong and once she began to remember, he came after her to erase it all."

"But I don't remember! I only remembered when I had visions after he would attack me!" Sadie cried.

"I think in your mind, you do remember Sadie." Mia said, "Think back on the last few months. Anything that seemed like a strange dream or memory?"

"I lost my mom and dad, I've been kidnapped and hurt a lot, I nearly died…" Sadie said, frustrated, throwing her hands up, "A lot has happened."

Pepper gasped.

"What?" Tony asked.

"Sadie…" Pepper said, "Remember when we went to New York together, just you and I?"

Sadie thought a minute and nodded, "I was still sick."

"You told me you'd died under the knife and would see things, but I brushed you off." Pepper said, "And Tony…" she said and looked at Tony sadly, "I never told you what happened on the plane ride to you in D.C."

Sadie looked up, very confused.

Pepper looked over at her and told everyone a story she'd kept quiet about for years.

_Pepper was extremely annoyed that she and Sadie had to leave from their nice little trip early; all because Tony was in trouble. She looked through some paperwork and emails she needed to read while Sadie slept nearby. She hoped all the pressure in the cabin wasn't getting to her. She would get up off and on to make sure Sadie was still breathing and doing okay. _

_She looked up from her work when she heard Sadie grunt. _

"_I'm not asleep!" she suddenly gasped, crying, "I'm not asleep!" _

_Pepper stared at her and got up slowly, "Sadie?" _

"_Boogeyman! Don't cut me! I'm not asleep! I can't move!" Sadie cried. _

_Pepper finally shook her awake, "Sadie, wake up!" _

_Sadie's eyes shot open and she gasped for air and coughed weakly. Pepper helped her sit up and breathe, "It's okay, sweetie, just a bad dream." _

"_What happened?" Sadie asked weakly, "Are we there yet?" _

_Pepper was relieved she'd forgotten the bad dream. Poor thing was dreaming about surgeries and Boogeymen. The air pressure must have caused some stress and nightmares. _

"_It'll be okay now, we'll be landing soon." _

"_Okay." Sadie said and rubbed her eyes, "Daddy's in trouble isn't he?" she smiled. _

_Pepper sighed, "Yep and that mean's I am." _

…_.._

"Why didn't you tell me about that?" Tony asked her.

Pepper looked at him sadly, "Tony, what was I supposed to think?" she asked, "She was very sick and I assumed it was just a bad dream and nothing more."

"I don't remember that!" Sadie cried.

Pepper hugged her, "I know and I was so relieved about that, I never thought for one second it was a memory."

Mia felt bad, but they needed to get rid of this thing once and for all, "This is good, this is something against him. We know what he did; we know now his weakness. We can use it against him." She looked over at Matt and Eli, "Both of you need to go get the triggers."

They nodded and left. Mia walked over to Dr. Niles and whispered to him. He nodded and looked over, smiling, "We're going to put on a little show."

"What do you mean?" Pepper asked.

"Trust me," Mia told her, "By doing this we are exposing what and who he is. This will then get rid of him. We'll use his weakness against him."

"What is his weakness?" Tony asked.

Mia smiled, "Sadie."


	9. Chapter 9

**Okay everyone, I decided to make this chapter long and finish the story. I am so glad you guys loved it and let me experiment with some horror and writing practice. I am ecstatic for IM3 as I'm sure you are and can't wait to develop another story when it comes out. **

**I will be MIA for a while, I have finals so you may not hear from me, but I promise my new story will be up in May after I've seen the movie a couple of times. **

**You guys are amazing! Thank you for loving Sadie! Hugs and Kisses all around!**

…**..**

Tony did not feel good about this plan at all. One: there was no guarantee it would work. Two: There was no way to test the theory. And three: It put Sadie at risk.

Tony could only watch as Dr. Niles and Mia performed some sort of blessing with holy water, herbs, and salt. They informed them that the three items used were used historically and proved effective for many families they dealt with. Dr. Niles said a prayer of blessing and then Mia took Sadie's hand and guided her towards her room. Tony didn't hear what she was telling Sadie and all he could do was sit and hope she'd be okay.

Mia came back out with Sadie who was holding something in her hand. Tony couldn't see it but wondered if it was a religious relic to protect herself. He didn't like it.

"Seriously, I don't want some hocus pocus cult crap in this house." Tony objected, standing up, "I've seen horror movies and I know for a fact this stuff just makes it worse."

Dr. Niles smiled, "I've seen them too Tony. But the difference is…those are movies, this is real."

Tony glared at him as Eli and Matt got the technical equipment set up and prepared for whatever was coming.

Tony walked over to Dr. Niles and stared him down, "Fury trusts you. But can I?"

Dr. Niles stared at him for the longest time and finally smiled, "You can. And for Sadie's sake, you should."

He walked away and Tony was forced to go back to a very worried looking Pepper sitting on the couch.

Dr. Niles instructed Pepper and Tony to stay put as he put a circle of salt and herbs around them.

"This will protect you. Under no circumstances can you leave this circle. If he gets to either of you then Sadie will let her guard down and get hurt."

"You're not letting her go out there by herself!" Pepper cried, standing up. She stared at Tony, "Tony, please, tell them not to do this."

"It's okay, Pepper." Sadie said, holding her head high, "I know what to do."

"Sade's…" Tony said, still feeling torn between letting these people help or just getting his suit and blasting holes in the wall, "You don't have to do this."

"I can do it, Daddy." She said, strongly.

He gave her a hard look and then softened when he realized she was determined to see it through. She wasn't backing down and that was something he knew she got from him. And he knew better than to argue with himself.

He held Pepper's hand and she sat down, shaking nervously. He kissed her forehead and she smiled.

Sadie came over and gave them both kisses before going back to Mia.

Tony didn't want to let her hand go, but Sadie pulled away and he released it. When she got back to Mia, she took a deep breath and nodded to her.

Mia came over with a bowl of stuff and put it down by Sadie. Dr. Niles asked for a fire to be started and Tony ordered Jarvis to do so in a dry voice he didn't even recognize.

Dr. Niles nodded and the lights went off. For a while, they all seemed to just stand around waiting. Sadie stood feeling tired and worn down. But a big part of her just had to do this. She was heartbroken her friends from that hospital had been killed so viciously by this monster. She had to do something.

It got very cold, suddenly and she swore she could see her own breath. She shivered and looked up in the dark. All she could see were eerie shadows on the wall from the fire. She held the object in her hand tightly, her palm sweating.

"Show yourself!" Mia commanded, making Sadie jump.

Tony caught her eye and she nodded to him and he smiled weakly back at her.

The lights flickered quickly and then Sadie's bedroom door swung open.

Sadie held her screams in, trying not to show any fear.

There was nothing over there as far as they all could see, so she relaxed. But then, she heard it right behind her. That crackling sound that always sent chills up her spine. Her first instinct was to run to her dad, but then she caught herself and turned around to face it slowly.

She stared in horror at the monster in front of her, smiling wickedly. It's black frame against the fire more evil than ever. He seemed taller and darker than ever before. Its eyes glowing.

Tony stiffened and nearly ran after the thing. Pepper held his hand, shaking more than ever.

Sadie gulped and finally gathered enough courage and anger to glare at the thing, "Go away!" she yelled.

Tony looked from her to the creature in front of her. He would have peed his pants if he were in her shoes right now.

The creature still smiled at her and was cracking its claws as its fingers bent. Its head was swaying from side to side as though playing a nasty game.

"I said go away!" Sadie repeated.

The thing cocked its head and laughed a very breathless sound that sent shivers down her spine.

"Dr. Hecox." Sadie said sternly, "I'm awake!"

The creature suddenly grew stiff and stared angrily at her.

Tony suddenly knew what she was doing. She was calling Dr. Hecox out.

"I'm telling my parents what you did to me during surgery."

The creature actually backed up, hissing at her.

"I'm not letting you experiment on me anymore. And you can let my friends go too."

The creature was getting angry and staring at her, but its vivid, monstrous form was beginning to get a little less spooky. He was becoming more of a person. Tony realized that by calling him out, Sadie was becoming stronger.

Sadie held her hand out and Tony saw what it was finally. It was an old Hospital wrist band. It was very small. He realized that it must have been kept in her old parent's scrapbooks that Pepper had found.

She stared the creature down who was becoming smaller and weaker before their eyes.

"Let my friends go now. I'll tell the world what you did to me." Sadie warned.

He growled at her and then Sadie threw the bracelet into the bowl of herbs. The creature grew very angry and howled.

The creature drew up its hand to hurt Sadie. Tony stood up and Mia shouted for him to stay put. He could only watch in horror with Pepper.

Sadie stood her ground. She flinched when the hand came down on her. But she didn't feel anything; just a rush of cold air. Its claws and arms dissolved as it swept through her. The creature, which was turning into Dr. Hecox, stared at its hand and grew upset.

Sadie turned and picked up the bowl, walked right by it and threw the contents into the fire.

"Sadie, go to your dad, now!" Mia instructed and Sadie was happy to oblige.

Tony grabbed her and held her close as he watched in horror the monster that'd been terrorizing his daughter, literally burn alive in front of them.

He was screaming in pain and anger and Tony covered Sadie's face so she wouldn't see the horror unfolding.

In a manner of minutes, the sound died…and soon after, so did the Boogeyman.

The fire disappeared and it was deathly still in the darkness.

The lights went back on and Tony couldn't help but feel a sense of release.

He looked at Pepper and even she looked as though she were beginning to relax again.

He finally looked down at Sadie and her eyes lit up happily. She stared at him and smiled, "He's gone!"

He smiled too and kissed her forehead over and over, making her laugh.

Matt and Eli fist-bumped one another and Mia smiled at Sadie, feeling proud. Dr. Niles leaned against the wall and sighed, nodding to himself.

"Is it over?" Pepper asked Mia.

Mia smiled and nodded, "You can rest easy now, he's never coming back."

Sadie smiled and finally looked over at Kala who was wagging her tail again and looking like her old self again. She walked over to Sadie and nuzzled her foot, licking her leg. Sadie reached down and pet her head. Kala put her head on Tony's knee and drooled happily.

"What about the other kids?" Sadie suddenly asked, frowning, "Will they be okay?" she asked.

Mia smiled, "They're free now, Sadie, thanks to you." She closed her eyes and a look of peace came over her. She nodded and looked over at Sadie, "They're very happy now and so you should be as well. You did it!"

Sadie felt loads better hearing that. But unlike everyone around her who was cheering happily, she was content to just finally get some sleep.

…..

2 weeks later

Tony was so happy that things were going back to normal again. Sadie was in her room again, sleeping peacefully. Kala was healing and once again back on her feet. Pepper was officially moved in. And he was back to developing his new suits.

He was doing that a lot lately, but still found time for Pepper and Sadie. She did have a party coming up after all.

Pepper came down, wearing casual clothes. She was smiling mischievously and looking around. She saw Tony and put a finger to her mouth.

"What?" he asked, suddenly.

She giggled, "Sadie's playing hide and go seek. But she's not upstairs," Pepper winked and spoke louder, "So she has to be down here somewhere!"

Tony stared at her curiously, "Nobody came down here."

Pepper put her hands on her hips and smiled, "Tony, are you helping her hide?"

"No, seriously." Tony said, "Nobody's been down here but me." He laughed.

Pepper frowned; "Hmm…" she finally walked back upstairs.

He watched her go and smiled, "All clear." He said.

Sadie knocked over some of his stuff and giggled, crawling out of his many tool storage shelves.

He shook his head, laughing, as he watched Dummy help her out.

Sadie came over the computer and she and Tony laughed as Pepper continued to look around for Sadie upstairs.

"I think I'll go say boo now!" Sadie smiled. She ran upstairs and Tony watched, smiling as Sadie snuck underneath tables and crawled around, finally jumping up behind Pepper and yelling. Pepper shrieked and laughed with Sadie. He saw Pepper hold her tightly and take her hand to come back downstairs. He was about to leave when he noticed something from the camera in Sadie's room. He looked closer and could have sworn some kind of small shadow was moving around.

He shrugged and brushed it off as dust.

He looked up when Sadie and Pepper walked back in. Pepper was glaring at him and he knew he was in for it.

"Traitor." Pepper said coming in.

Sadie giggled as her dad shrugged apologetically and came over to kiss Pepper.

…

Tony was finally enjoying himself on the sofa. He'd sprawled himself out and was just relaxing, content to just lie there doing nothing for a few moments.

"BOO!" Pepper yelled, causing Tony to shriek and topple off the couch.

Pepper laughed and did a little victory dance. He glared playfully at her and threw a pillow at her face.

She caught it and stuck her tongue out at him, laughing.

He rolled his eyes and sat back on the couch while she skipped over to him and sat on his lap. He looked at her face and smiled, feeling like the luckiest man on the planet. With their arms around one another they just sat there peacefully.

"I'm so glad the nightmare's over." Pepper sighed.

"The moving nightmare?" Tony asked.

She rolled her eyes and laughed, "No…Sadie."

He nodded, finally getting serious, "Yeah, she's a lot happier isn't she?"

"Reminds me!" Pepper said, suddenly and reached into her bag on the coffee table.

She pulled out some photos, "I just had these developed, I'm waiting on some bigger ones to frame."

Tony took them and smiled, "Are these those pictures you took last week on our vacation?"

"What vacation? We stayed here." Pepper laughed.

"Hey, neither of us did work." Tony shrugged, "Same difference."

"True, you've been to Monaco and still did work." Pepper nodded.

Tony riffled through the pictures and smiled. She was so happy and well in the pictures. They were all having fun together around the house, being goofy and Sadie was just like a normal kid for once.

He suddenly stopped when he noticed something in one of the pictures, "What's this?" he asked Pepper.

She took it from him and frowned, "Bummer, must be a camera thing or bad lighting."

"It looks like tons of fog all around Sadie." Tony commented.

He looked closer and suddenly realized that there were faces in the white fog. A bunch of them. They all looked young and were smiling.

Sadie didn't seem the least bit disturbed in the picture.

Pepper took it back and tossed it on the table, "One for the trash." She sighed.

Tony couldn't seem to shake the feeling that there was something connected to the mist in Sadie's room and this picture. Who were all those faces? And what did they want?

Both Pepper and Tony looked around when they heard Sadie giggling in her room.

"Silly goose is still up." Pepper smiled, getting up.

"I got it." Tony said, "Why don't you go wait for me upstairs." He suggested into her ear and she smiled seductively as she gathered the pictures and went upstairs.

Tony watched her toss the picture in the trash. He would have salvaged it but he decided to just let it go. No more ghosts in his house anymore, thank you!

Tony went towards Sadie's room and heard her giggling. He opened her door just a crack.

Sadie's was sitting up in bed and seemed to be talking quietly to someone, giggling. Tony stared at her and then his blood went cold when he heard another voice. It was the voice of a little boy. There was someone in Sadie's room!

He panicked and opened the door quickly, turning on the lights.

Sadie stared at him and covered her eyes from the light, "Daddy?" she asked.

He looked around and saw no one.

She stared at him and put her hand down, "I'm sorry Daddy, I'll go to sleep now." She said.

"Who was in here?" he asked her looking around.

"What?" she asked.

"I heard someone…" he panted, still trying to make sense of what he had heard and seen today.

Sadie smiled, "It's okay, Daddy. His name is Nolan. He's my age."

"What?" Tony said, finally looking under the bed, "Where is he?"

"Daddy!" Sadie laughed, tapping his head, "He's not under there, he's right here."

Tony froze and looked on the bed. He didn't see anyone. He finally looked at Sadie, "You mean he's…"

Sadie looked in front of her and smiled, "Nolan died when Dr. Hecox experimented on him. But he's better now. He visits me and likes to talk, but he'll go now."

Tony turned white and suddenly realized that all the kids that Dr. Hecox had killed had been visiting Sadie this whole time.

"He's not gonna…hurt you is he?" Tony asked.

Sadie shook her head, "No, he's like the others. They just want to come over and say thank you."

"Oh…" Tony said, then looked over on the bed, "Well, uh…no boys in the room. Sorry kid."

Sadie giggled and smiled at Nolan.

She turned to look at Tony again and finally laid down, "He went home, Daddy."

Tony sat on the bed, his hand scratching his head, "Have you been seeing a lot of them?"

Sadie nodded, "They don't scare me, they look after me and make me feel better." She said.

Tony nodded and took a breath, "I thought we were done with all this ghost stuff." He said.

Sadie shrugged, "I don't think they're ghosts. I think they're angels."

Tony relaxed and suddenly realized something. Had Sadie died and tried to visit him, he wouldn't think of her as a ghost, he'd think of her as an angel too. And that's why these kids were coming to her. Because they were all connected in some way, not just because of Hecox, but because they were all kids.

He smiled at her, "Well, they can only come over to play during the day. Cause you need sleep."

Sadie grinned, "Okay, Daddy."

"Hey." He smiled, "I love you."

"I love you too Daddy." She said, letting him kiss her forehead.

He got up to leave and turned off her lights. Before he closed the door, he looked back at Sadie's bed. He nearly jumped but didn't as he looked over and saw a little girl standing by Sadie's bed, smiling at him. She waved and he waved back as she disappeared.

Seemed like he and Sadie had a lot more in common than ever before. Only this was something he would have to get used to. But then again, Sadie was pretty easy to get used to. She was his daughter after all.


End file.
